The Love of Her Life
by Ellie603
Summary: Monica runs into Richard on the street the day before her and Chandler's first anniversary. As the two catch up, Monica realizes just how much has changed for her since she last saw her ex-boyfriend. A missing moment from "TO in Vegas"


_A/N: I just rewatched TOW the Proposal last night, and now I have a bunch of little missing moment and what if type one shots I want to write, mostly centered on the proposal and the stuff around that. I decided to start with this one though because it's chronologically first (and also because TOW the Proposal always makes me really angry at Richard so I felt like this was necessary). It's shorter than the stuff I normally write, but I really wanted to capture this little moment. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I, of course, don't own _Friends_, but some plot points are taken from "The One In Vegas."_

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Monica checked her watch as she walked up the street, heading back to her apartment where she was supposed to meet Phoebe. She had been out running errands all morning, including picking up the two tickets to Vegas that she had gotten Chandler for his anniversary present, but, fortunately, as she looked at her watch, she found that she was definitely going to make it back with plenty of time to spare.

As she went to turn a corner, she heard her name called out from behind her.

Monica whirled around and found herself face to face with someone that she hadn't seen in almost two and a half years.

"Richard!" she said, as her eyes widened, surprised. "Wow, it's so nice to see you."

Richard smiled at her, his upper lip missing its mustache as it had been on the last occasion they had encountered each other. Monica half blushed at the memory. The two had tried to be friends, but had ended up sleeping together instead, leading to their agreement that they not see each other anymore.

"It's nice to see you too, Monica," Richard replied, looking down at her. "You look great, by the way."

Monica smiled back at him, slightly nervous. "So do you." And he did. He was exactly the same as she remembered him: tall, handsome.

"So," Richard said slowly, still staring at her, "how have you been? I've only picked up details here and there from your dad."

Monica knew that after he and Monica's break up, Richard and her father, who had been close before, had drifted apart somewhat. "Well, last year I got a job as head chef at this little Italian place, Alessandro's," Monica began, realizing with a start that at some point Richard was going to ask if she was seeing someone and she was going to have to tell him about Chandler. _Well_ that_ won't be awkward at all_, Monica thought to herself sarcastically.

But Richard, for the moment at least, seemed content to focus on the news of her job. "That's great, Monica! I'm so happy for you!" He beamed at her.

"Thanks." She offered him a smile back, though not one as bright as his. "And how about you?" she added, politely.

He shrugged and frowned. "Same old, same old."

Monica responded with a nod and a small smile.

Richard looked around for a moment. "Um, would you like to grab a bite to eat so we can, you know, catch up properly?" He pointed across the street. "That sandwich place over there is pretty good."

Monica thought for a moment. She knew Chandler would freak out if he found out that she had had lunch with Richard, but it really didn't mean anything. She was just catching up with an old boyfriend that she hadn't seen in a while, nothing more. It _really_ wouldn't mean anything.

She shrugged. "Yeah, sure, why not?"

Richard smiled widely at her. "Great!"

The pair crossed the street and entered the small shop, Richard holding the door open for Monica as they walked in. They quickly ordered at the counter, Richard insisting that he pay, and sat down to wait while their sandwiches were made.

"So, head chef," Richard asked conversationally, "how's that going for you?"

"It's okay," Monica replied, half smiling at how easy it really was to talk to Richard. "I love having my own restaurant, but I don't have the best relationship with the staff. To hire me on, the owner fired the old head chef who was physically related to half of the people working there."

Richard made a slight grimace at her statement.

"They aren't mean to me outright anymore, but it still isn't the best situation, you know?" Monica looked over to Richard, who nodded understandingly.

Monica decided to move the subject back to Richard to prolong the time before she had to tell him about Chandler. "But how's the doctor's office doing? I, um, ran into your son there probably a year and a half ago."

Richard's smile dimmed somewhat, and Monica realized that he must have heard in some capacity about Monica inviting his son Tim over for Thanksgiving two years before. Monica herself didn't have the best memories of that night.

"It's going well," Richard said, pushing through the potential awkwardness. "Tim's taking on more and more of the business, so that's nice for me."

"Good, good," Monica replied, wanting to move away from the topic of Richard's son.

They were distracted from their conversation as they were served their sandwiches. The two ate in silence for a few minutes until Richard finally spoke.

"Okay, I have to ask; are you seeing anyone?"

The conversation had reached the point that Monica had been dreading.

She took a deep breath and lifted her head up to make eye contact with Richard. "Um, yeah actually, I am."

"Oh." Richard glanced down at his sandwich. "How long have you guys been together?"

Monica smiled as she thought about it. "As of tomorrow, it'll be a year."

Richard looked up, taken aback. "Really? A year? Wow. He must be a great guy then."

"Yeah, he really is." Monica's smile grew bigger.

Her ex-boyfriend seemed somehow diminished, despite his tall stature, but he still managed to at least look sort of pleased for her. "What's his name?" he asked in a hollow sort of voice with a happiness that didn't seem the least bit genuine.

"Um," Monica paused, knowing what had to come next. "Well, it's Chandler, actually."

Richard stared at her, his mouth falling open slightly. "Chandler?" he asked, incredulously. "Chandler, like your friend, Chandler? Chandler who lives across the hall from you, Chandler? _That _Chandler? You're dating _that_ Chandler"

"Yeah," she said, looking up her ex-boyfriend with a defiant smile, "I'm dating that Chandler."

Richard's mouth opened and closed wordlessly, as he seemed to struggle to find something to say in response. "Well, um," he began, but then stopped, looking confused. "I mean, uh." He stopped again. "Chandler's a really great guy," he said finally.

"He is a really great guy," Monica echoed Richard's words for emphasis and then paused. "Actually, he's, he's the best guy." Monica was talking more to herself than to her companion. Suddenly she realized something.

She had been talking to Richard for fifteen or twenty minutes now, and, yes he was still really easy to talk to, and yes he looked great, but at the same time – she didn't feel _anything _for him. _Nothing._ She didn't really miss him. She didn't want to be with him again like she had the last time they had run into each other. Sure, it was nice to catch up with him, but that was all she felt about their conversation. Nothing more.

_Oh my God, I'm completely over him, aren't I?_ Monica thought to herself, her smile growing wider and wider as she thought about it. She had no reason to care about Richard romantically anymore because the guy that she had been with for the past year was really and truly better for her than Richard ever was. He was Chandler, her best friend and the person who knew more about her than anyone in the world. He had always been one of the people she could turn to the most whenever things weren't going well for her, and being with him this past year had just made that relationship stronger.

She remembered right after she broke up with Richard three years before thinking that Richard was the love of her life and that it was going to be impossible not just to get over him, but also to find someone who she could ever love as much as she had loved him.

Pete hadn't nearly made it to Richard's level when Monica broke up with him, but she had thought at one point that maybe he could have, until, of course, he decided that he had to become the Ultimate Fighting Champion.

But then, there was Chandler. Monica had spent their whole year together kicking herself for not having realized sooner that she belonged with him. She could have saved Chandler from the pain and annoyance of Janice and the heartbreak of Kathy, and she could have stopped herself from having had to deal with Richard, the definitely-never-going-to-be Ultimate Fighting Champion, Pete, or any other guy.

Richard had been the love of her life back then, but, as she sat across from her ex-boyfriend in the sandwich shop, Monica realized that Richard was not the love of her life anymore. That title now belonged to Chandler, and Monica truly believed that that was where it was going to stay.

Monica and Richard finished their sandwiches in silence, Richard seeming to want to say something else, but finding himself unable to.

Monica suddenly remembered her plans with Phoebe. She looked at her watch; she was already late.

"Oh, Richard, I just remembered I was supposed to meet Phoebe back at the apartment ten minutes ago." She stood and picked up her bag. "It really was great to see you."

Richard nodded as he also stood. "It was great to see you too. Take care." He took half a step forward, as if going in for a hug, but then seemed to think better of it, stopping himself and extending his hand.

Monica shook it cordially and smiled at him before turning and walking quickly out of the shop. She glanced back as she was walking out the door and saw Richard still standing where she had left him, looking dejectedly at his feet.

She turned back around and thought to herself as she walked. "Nothing," she said out loud to herself after a moment. "I feel absolutely nothing." She grinned.

She knew that she definitely couldn't tell Chandler that she had seen Richard, even if she didn't feel anything for her ex-boyfriend. Just the knowledge that she had seen Richard would freak Chandler out, and with their anniversary tomorrow, she didn't want anything to go wrong for them.

Monica stopped for a second and looked into her bag to make sure the wrapped box containing the tickets to Vegas was still there. Finding it safely in her bag, Monica started walking again, hurrying as fast as she could, hoping that Phoebe wouldn't be too upset with her for being so late.

As she made it back to her street, Monica couldn't help but smile as she thought about how great it would be for her and Chandler to spend their anniversary in Las Vegas.

_And we can start celebrating on the plane!_ she thought as she began to climb up the stairs to the apartment. _It can be our Plane-iversary! Or our Anni-Vegas-ry! Oooo, what about our An-Nevada-versary!_ Monica smiled excitedly as she reached her floor, but then remembered that there was a Phoebe inside her apartment who was probably mad at her for being so late, so she pushed the anniversary related thoughts out of her mind for the moment as she raced into the apartment calling for her friend.

Monica knew she would have plenty of time to get excited about their anniversary later. And besides, she was sure that this wouldn't be their only one. Chandler was, after all, _definitively_ the love of her life.

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_A/N: I hope you liked it, and please please review!_


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